Duchy of Berg

The Duchy of Berg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from 1101 to 1815, with Düsseldorf serving as its capital. Berg emerged out of Lotharingia in 1101 as a county, and the County of Jülich united with Berg in 1348. In 1380, Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia elevated the counts of Berg to the rank of dukes, thus originating the Duchy of Jülich-Berg. In 1521, this duchy merged into Jülich-Cleves-Berg, which existed until 1614. Cleves and Mark fell to the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which later evolved into Prussia, while Berg became a part of the Palatinate (Bavaria from 1777). After the French annexed Jülich during the French Revolutionary Wars, Berg became a part of Bavaria, and it became the Grand Duchy of Berg in 1806. In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, Berg became a part of the Rhine Province of Prussia.